Those of who you that read the blog regularly know how difficult it has been for us not to respond to many of the slurs against our behaviour leading up to Madeleines disappearance. We have consistently stated that we will not put new information into the public domain that might jeopardise the investigation and in fact, we are constrained by Portuguese Law as witnesses from doing so.
There has been some wild speculation reported in the press about what may have happened to Madeleine. Most of the innuendo regarding Kate and …

Kate and I managed an early morning run, finishing by running up the steep hill. It got a difficult day for us off to a good start.
Madeleine was due to start school today. It has been hard not to imagine how excited she would have been and how she would have looked in her school uniform. Kate and I would like to thank the pupils, parents, teachers and headmistress for their continued support and prayers. We would like to wish all the new pupils much happiness and we hope pray …

Relatively quiet day. Kate and I did one interview in the morning for a newspaper- that I managed to finish, probably because the journalist stuck to questions that I am allowed to give answers to!
This afternoon and evening was mostly spent at my computer and a couple of hours with the kids. Their constant chatter with each other is quite entertaining.

We, like everyone else, await the results of the forensics from the recent searches. We do not know who has taken Madeleine or why. Sometimes people do things for reasons that even they cannot understand. An act of madness, an accident or sudden impulse can lead to consequences that people may never have imagined or intended. Faced with such a situation we believe any human soul will ultimately suffer torment and feelings of guilt and fear.
If you have done something you regret, if you find yourself in a situation you …

No major news to report. Most of my day was spent on e-mails and telephone calls.
Kate I went for a run together in the early evening along the waterfront and then we popped into church for 10 minutes to pray for Madeleine. We had dinner with Kates family who are over here just now. Sean and Amelie are particularly enjoying having some older kids around.

I attended mass this morning but Kate did not go as she went to the English speaking service last night. It was good to see the local parish priest, father Jose back after a couple of weeks on retreat.
This afternoon was spent with the twins who remain very happy and help Kate and me keep looking forward.

Kirsty Wark interviewed me at the Edinburgh International TV festival this morning. It was very well attended, especially considering the 9.30 start on a Saturday morning. It is difficult to explain why Madeleines disappearance has generated so much media coverage and why it has been so sustained. I am certain that the coverage would not have been nearly as great if this had happened 10 years ago. The use of mobile phones, the internet, low-cost airlines and 24 hour news channels have changed the world we live in- making it …

I started the day early with a pooled telephone interview for the press to talk about the media coverage of the campaign to find Madeleine in advance of my interview at the Edinburgh International TV festival. We touched on the coverage of the investigation and of course the wild speculation and innuendo being reported in some quarters. Although Kate, our friends and myself would love to correct much of the inaccuracy we will not divulge information publicly which might help the perpetrator of Madeleines abduction cover his tracks.
Travelled to Edinburgh …

Another early morning start but this time for a series of radio interviews to discuss the survey of MP’s and MEP’s. The survey shows overwhelming support for the introduction of a Europe wide sex offenders register. There is also support to implement a child rescue alert, using local media to inform the community when a child has been abducted and felt to be at serious risk.
There have also been calls for changes in the way child abduction cases are handled in Europe to provide the best expertise available, quickly to …

I had another early morning drive to the airport- I could almost do it with my eyes shut. After dropping the kids off we had some photos taken with the results of a survey of UK and European parliament MP’s. The survey results, commissioned by the find Madeleine campaign, will be published tomorrow and demonstrate strong support for changes in European legislation following Madeleine’s abduction.
Kate is keen to get in touch with a very nice mum, who she spoke with at the toddler pool in the Ocean Club on Sunday …